by Jimmy Jividen

Do religious rituals seem cold? Do sacred ceremonies seem meaningless? Is worship impersonal, merely an exercise in demanded duty? Do worship periods make you feel as if you are an audience watching a professional performance?

If you answered "yes" to any of the above, then read on.

The Bible teaches that worship is a spiritual fellowship with God. It is not emotional excitement, magic rituals, or holy words, but submission of our own will to the will of God.

This submission involves the inner man — his mind to reason, his heart to feel, and his spirit to will. If you do not understand the words of worship, if what you say and do in worship is not from your heart, and if your will is only passively involved, then worship cannot take place. The Bible teaches that worship must be "with the spirit" and "with the mind" (1 Cor. 14:15). Worship must be more than watching a performance.

This submission involves following the will of God revealed in the Bible. There can be no substitutions of human innovations or neglect of what God has revealed. Good intentions do not count. If they did, every man could make his own idol and worship his own way. The true God is worshipped "in truth" (Jn. 4:24).

Worship is a deep spiritual expression of a grateful heart.

Worship is a rational understanding of what is thought, said, and done in the worship experience.

Worship is a humble submission to God, approaching Him as He has directed in His Word.

The Bible teaches that true worship comes from the heart and involves both the spirit and the understanding of the worshipper. More is involved than going through traditional rituals and the stimulation of emotional response.

Thanks to The Voice of Truth International, Vol 9, p. 56.

by Phil Sanders

This material is originally from Thomas Brooks (1608-1680 AD).

Beware false prophets (Matt. 7:15-23)

1. False Teachers are men pleasers (Gal. 1:10; 1 Thess. 2:1-4; Isa. 30:10; Jer. 5:30-31). Such smooth teachers are sweet soul-poisoners (Jer. 23:16-17).

2. False Teachers are notable in casting dirt, scorn, and reproach upon the persons, names, and credits of Christ's most faithful ambassadors. (cf. Num. 16:3; 1 Kings 22:10-26; 2 Cor. 10:10; Matt. 27:63).

3. False teachers are [in]ventors of the devices and visions of their own heads and hearts. (Jer. 14:14; 23:16).

4. False teachers easily pass over the great and weighty things both of law and gospel, and stand most upon those things that are of the least moment and concernment to the souls of men (1 Tim. 1:5-7; Matt. 23:23; 1 Tim. 6:3-5).

5. False teachers cover and color their dangerous principles and soul-impostures with very fair speeches and plausible pretenses, with high notions and golden expressions (Gal. 6:12; 2 Cor. 11:13-15; Rom. 16:17-18; Matt. 16:6-12; 7:15).

6. False teachers strive more to win over men to their opinions, than to better them in their conersations (behavior). Cf. Matt. 23:17.

7. False teachers make merchandise of their followers (2 Pet. 2:1-3; Rev. 18:11-13; Jer. 6:13.

Now by these characters you may know them, and so shun them, and deliver your souls out of their dangerous snares.

Be on the alert!

by J. Randal Matheny

"We cannot seek happiness in things exterior to ourselves, so we must seek it within humanity."

So said the psychiatrist Saturday night as he sat across the table from me at the birthday party of a mutual friend's daughter.

How sad he must be, I thought, looking for the wrong thing, and in the wrong place.

How can one believe in the evolution of humanity after the wars and suffering of the 20th century? This man, like so many others, is clinging to a myth in the face of overwhelming evidence of humanity's growing evil.

But, like the psychiatrist, we are tempted to cut God out of the picture and paste it over with human hopes and helps. With man we can count dollars and (war)heads. With man we can negotiate, barter, dicker, and deceive. With man we manage to maintain a semblance of control. With man, we can measure ourselves and still find a scale that puts us on top.

Not with God. With God, faith pokes out the eye. With God, the powerless wins. With God, no counter-offer turns his head. With God, our finger on the button withers before his sovereignty. With God, all scales to measure worth drop to zero.

Man has nothing to offer. "Stop regarding man in whose nostrils is breath, for of what account is he?" (Isa. 2:22, ESV). He's a consumer, not a supplier, and a bad one at that. He confuses right and wrong, miscalculates distances, and generally leaves a mess behind him.

But not God. Moses had it right in his last words to Israel: "Happy are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the LORD, the shield of your help, and the sword of your triumph!" (Deut. 33:29).

The search for happiness is selfish and thus can never find its fulfilment. Neither can I make myself happy, for what little knowledge I have of myself leaves me discontent with my failures and shortcomings. Only when I search for God and find in him the answer to my needs will I discover that which I gave up seeking. But now it is the happiness of possessing God, or rather, being possessed by God.

As one psalmist knew, "It is better to take refuge in the Lord that to trust in man" (Psa. 118:8, ESV). But my psychiatrist friend won't admit it. The question is, will I?

by Emmett Smith

In a Newsweek article discussing the upcoming release of Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ", Jon Meacham was highly critical of Gibson's "literal-minded rendering" of the Biblical accounts. He also wrote that "the Bible can be a problematic source" as he sought to discredit the historical accuracy of the Biblical record.

Mr. Meacham also wrote that God's, "mercy is not limited to those who confess the Christian faith." But that's not Biblical either. "And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:12)

Yes, the Bible is problematic. If you accept it, then you must accept personal responsibility as well. And that's anathema to today's "politically correct" crowd.

"but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)

By Michael E. Brooks

"But you, do not be called 'Rabbi, Rabbi,' for one is your teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren. Do not call anyone on earth your father, for one is your Father, he who is in Heaven" (Matt. 23:8,9).

Many Americans who are exposed to other cultures remark on their appreciation for the sense of family which many in those cultures possess. Extended families remain very close and there is often a deeply developed system of mores that demonstrate respect, dependence and obligation. I see this often in Asian and South American cultures. One common symptom of the valuing of extended family is the complicated and extensive set of titles with which various relationships are specified. There may be many words for "aunt" and "uncle" for instance, with "mother's sister", "father's sister", or even "mother's oldest brother" and "mother's youngest brother" all having a distinct title.

Those of us who have succumbed to the modern, fast paced, highly mobile society of "developed nations" rue the loss of such relationships, while acknowledging that we have often done it to ourselves. Wherever the blame may lie, however, there seems to be the feeling that once gone, the close knit extended family will likely never be restored.

It is precisely in this context that the blessing of Christian fellowship may be best appreciated. In many ways the church becomes (or at least should become) our family. God is our Father. Jesus is our oldest brother. We are all brothers and sisters together in Christ. A wonderful concept, but does that really describe the relationship that truly exists in most congregations or among most Christians? Just as extended fleshly families drift apart without time and attention given to them, so our fellowship in Christ is dependent upon effort.

All the things required to build true spiritual fellowship obviously cannot be covered in one short article. One, however, is of special importance and is suggested in our text. That is the sense of equality that exists in genuine Christian fellowship. "You are all brethren." There are no rabbis, or masters or fathers among us. We are all of equal value and equal "rank" when it comes to God's view of us. That does not mean that our roles are the same. Much New Testament teaching shows that there are many different gifts within the body (cf Eph. 4:11-13, Rom. 12:3ff). But our value in God's sight is equal. Jesus died just as much for the poorest and most uneducated Christian as he did for the elder or preacher or wealthy person among us. We are brothers!

Another aspect of our brotherhood is that we are all dependent. We are dependent upon God's grace and Christ's blood to save us. And we are dependent upon the love, compassion and mercy of our brothers and sisters to help us walk worthy of our Savior. It is only by the encouragement and support that other Christians give us that we have the ability to resist temptation and abound in good works (Heb. 10:23,24). It may be that nothing encourages true fellowship as much as the recognition of our mutual dependence. We must learn to look upon other Christians as essential to our well-being, rather than as burdens we must help carry, or perhaps worse, strangers whom we have little desire to know. Even before affection and love we acknowledge need. I need you. You need me. Once that is recognized and we reach out mutually to meet those needs, then the affection and love naturally follow. And we come to know real family, that established by God the Father and Jesus his Son.